'Focus on' Pep Guardiola gives key difference between Man City and Manchester United

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola spoke about one of the key differences between Manchester City and Manchester United

Pep Guardiola said that results are the only way that managers keep their jobs as he prepares to face the sixth Manchester United coach during his time in English football. Guardiola arrived at the Etihad in 2016 and takes Manchester City to Old Trafford on Saturday looking to make sure that the Blues remain the dominant force in the city.

Michael Carrick will lead United for the first time since being appointed as their coach for the rest of the season. Ruben Amorim was hailed as one of the brightest coaches in Europe when he arrived last season and won at the Etihad early on, but left this month to leave United needing another fresh start.

United have hired a number of ex-City staff into senior positions since Sir Jim Ratcliffe bought into the club, yet appear to be no closer to their neighbours. City's structure has allowed Guardiola to thrive, but he was clear ahead of the derby that the biggest safety net for managers is winning matches.

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"Results. If you don't win, you are sacked. We won a lot, that's why I'm still sitting here. Here, a little bit more, they are patient but there is no other secrets," he said. "In other clubs, last season I would not be here any more.

"They were patient, but also what we had done in the past. We had two or three bad months and the rest was correct but maybe in other clubs I would not be here. Everything else we have done is extraordinary, that's why I am still here."

The fact that Carrick has not yet picked a United team leaves Guardiola in the dark about how they could line up. Without that information, he will lean more into his own players.

"If you don't have more info of the opponent, you focus on yourself and the players. you can have some ideas of what Middlesbrough has done or when Michael was in his part as a manager at Man United but tactics is about the players and the players tomorrow are different to the Middlesbrough ones," he said.

"I don't have a timeout after 10 minutes to tell them what Michael wants to do. When you don't have info it's better to focus on yourself. The game we played against Chelsea recently with their new manager, the first half was completely different to how they played in the second half. That's why you have to focus on yourself."